The Passenger
by Writingnerd291
Summary: After the Andomal was returned, Lydia went home to Limmat, and the Heron crew became a real wolfship crew. When the Herons run an errand for Erak, what will happen when they find a mysterious half-Araluen girl?
1. Chapter 1

**I Don't Own The Brotherband Chronicles!**

The Passenger

Chapter 1- The storm

Hal pov.

I thought about home in Skandia as I was steering my boat, the Heron. I thought about Lydia, who had mysteriously disappeared after we recovered the Andomal. We hadn't seen her again. I hoped that she hadn't married Barrett, from Limmat. Otherwise, Stig would be neglecting his duties to bash his head against a wall for awhile.

We were leaving Skandia for Araluen to make a treaty with the new King and Queen, Horace and Cassandra. Normally, the Oberjarl would go on a mission like this, but…complications… had arisen and Erak couldn't leave Skandia. He was a prisoner in his own country, a king locked in his own castle.

The people of Skandia were rebelling against Erak for some reason. It had all started with Tursgud. He kept complaining about how it wasn't fair that we got to become Skandian sea raiders when we returned the Andomal.

So naturally, many people had sided with Tursgud because his daddy was the Maktig. Unfortunately, people had forgotten that Thorn had been the Maktig three years in a row, making him the Maktig champion. The people somehow believed Tursgud's sob story, so Erak was unable to leave Skandia.

The day was clear and without a single cloud in the sky. "A storm's coming" Thorn said to me. I was steering her (the Heron).

"What are you talking about, the sky is clear as ever" Stig remarked.

"Thorn, if a storm is coming, we're screwed. There's no land as far as the eye can see, what do we do?" I asked, getting slightly nervous.

"Look for land. If that doesn't work, find the eye of the storm. Or, we could try to take down the mast and wait out the storm, but I don't recommend that" Thorn didn't explain anything else. He tightened his pack and put it in the floorboards of the ship next to the strongbox.

He sat down and leaned against the mast. Edvin chuckled before going back to his job. Stig let out a bark of laughter before going back to calling the rhythm for the rowers.

"Storm ho!" Jesper called. I looked over to him and saw a huge black funnel in the distance.

"Take down the mast! Tie her tight to the deck! Tie all loose belongings down! Make sure the food is secure! A storm's a coming," Stig bellowed to the other crewmembers. After Stig had tied down all of his belongings, He took the tiller from me and I tied down all of my belongings. We tied the oars and sails down. The ten of us huddled together at the center of our boat.

Lightning was flashing and we could hear the thunder. The storm was upon us. The rolling waves rocked the boat and even though we are all used to the sea, most of us were green and some were running to the side of the Heron to vomit, lovely.

I laid down and soon fell asleep, despite the rolling and pitching of the Heron. When I woke up, only Thorn was still awake. He was watching the horizon anxiously, as if hoping the storm would go away.

I could tell that the sun was up because it was gray and depressing, instead of pitch black. Edvin passed out hard sea biscuits to everyone. Jesper gave everyone a sip of water. The storm was still raging and we were stranded here, with nowhere to go.


	2. Chapter 2

The Passenger

Chapter 2

After several days of waiting out the storm, the sun started to come out and the pouring rain eased to sprinkling. Ulf and Wulf raised the sail. Stig was bellowing orders as I took the tiller.

"Land-ho!" Jesper called out. "Northeast point, 300!" he added.

"I wonder how far the storm brought us…" Thorn muttered under his breath.

We finally stopped sailing and rowed into the cove. There was no harbor, so we simply beached on the sandy shore. All eight of us set up a shelter. It was similar to the one we had built for brotherband training. It was basically a tent, with wooden support beams and a canvas covering.

Ulf and Wulf dug trenches to catch water, Ingvar and Jesper set out to gather leafy branches to weave into the roof, so that we wouldn't get as wet. Stig, Stefan, and Edvin were searching for a nearby town. Thorn and I went fishing.

Thorn had fashioned a net sometime while we were at sea, so it was easier to catch the fish. Using a sharpened wooden pole, I waited, and waited. I saw a flash of silver scales. I speared the fish. I heaved the pole out of the water and dropped into Thorn's net.

After a few hours, we had about three large silverfish. Thorn and I brought them back to camp. By that time everyone was back and done with their jobs. Edvin skinned and cleaned the fish. Out of his supplies, he took out some jars of stuff and basically made the two of the fish. The other fish, he cut into chunks and salted.

He set out a piece of fish on each wooden plate for the rest of the crew. Everyone came and sat down to eat. The camp was silent as everyone was eating the delicious fish. After the meal, Edvin and Thorn cleaned up the campsite while the rest of us went on a two mile run. When we came back from the grueling run over rocks, mud, sand, and grass, Edvin ran it by himself. The rest of us found a river and filled up our water canteens. When Edvin returned, we all took off our tunics and breeches and jumped into the cold water.

Ulf and Wulf were shoving each other under water when Jesper told them to be quiet. After a couple of minutes, a girl came out from the trees. She wasn't paying attention, just harvesting berries from the nearby bushes. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. Her olive skin looked darker against her white dress-like tunic. The basket that she was harvesting berries into looked to be a whicker basket. Her hair was braided down to her lower back.

After about fifteen to twenty minutes, she turned around and saw us. Her eyes widened. She set down her basket and pulled out a knife that I hadn't noticed. "Stay away from me. I was never here," and with that, she ran off, until we couldn't see or hear her anymore.

I got up out of the cold river and Stig followed. I pulled on my breeches and tunic. After the other boys had put clothes on, we all walked back to the campsite. Thorn was there, whittling a baton of sorts.

"Thorn, we saw someone when we were at the river. It was a girl. She saw us and ran away. What should we do?" I asked, hoping that Thorn had a solution that didn't include leaving the town. I wanted to know who the girl was.

Girl pov

I woke up to the bright sunlight in my face. I opened my eyes and sighed. Today was Moon day. Every Moon day, Luke comes by and gives me a present. Luke is sort of handsome, but a jerk and arrogant.

I closed the curtains, locked the door, and put on my white tunic-like dress. I French braided my hair, and it ended at my lower back. I opened the curtains, unlocked the door, and opened the door. I grabbed the broom from the corner and swept the dust and dirt out from my house. After that, I picked up the rug and hung it on a tree branch. Using the handle of the broom, I beat the dust out of the rug. I placed the rug back on the ground of my house.

I grabbed my dirty laundry and went to a little stream nearby. I washed the laundry and then brought home where I hung it on a clothesline to dry. Going back inside, I realized that I was short on food. I picked up the wicker basket that had probably been a present from Luke, and walked towards my secret raspberry bushes. I reached the spot.

The bushes grew really well because I water them every day and they, they have plenty of sunlight, but also enough shade to not dry out. I shook the bushes gently, and the ripe berries fell off and into my basket. I did this for about twenty minutes or so, until I turned around to cross the river. About seven or so boys were in the river, bathing. But even worse, they were Skandians!

"Stay away from me! I was never here!" I grabbed my basket and ran. I'm not certain why I was afraid of the Skandians. My mother had fallen in love with one of them, for pity's sake! From the stories my mother had told me as a child, some Skandians were cruel, but most were kind, and smart, and wonderful.

Once I got home, I made my bed and used the raspberries I had picked to make myself dinner. I was just about to eat when someone knocked on the door. Expecting Luke, I sheathed my dagger and opened the door.

Instead, I saw a boy. He was one of the Skandians! He stepped into my house and closed the door before I could react. "Pack your things, you're leaving soon," he said to me.

"Maybe I want to stay!" I told him defiantly, even though I desperately wanted to leave.

"Hmm, stay with that, Luke, character? Because he should be regaining consciousness right about now. If you want to leave, now is the time," the boy thought out loud.

I scowled and folded up three tunics. One was a white tunic, one was a mottled, green and brown, and the third was a long tunic that was navy blue with silver trimming and stuff. I folded up a brown pair of leggings and a brown calico jacket. I put a pair of wool socks into the bag and put my sandals on. I put my brown cloak on and grabbed my bow and quiver. I ushered the boy out of my house, called my dog, Willow, and locked the door.

I grabbed the boy's hand and told Willow to follow us. "So, what is your name?" I asked him.

"Hal. But you know, we were holding hands before I knew your name. Why's that?" Hal asked me.

"Maybe I'm scared," I replied a little sarcastically. "Well, that way people would stay away from us. The one unspoken rule of this town is to not interrupt someone when they are out on a date, so I made them think we were on a date. Easy as pie," I answered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! I am so sorry that it took this long to update. My computer got virus infested, so I had to rewrite this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter and like the story! **

**The Passenger**

Chapter 3

**Leah (Lee-uh) pov**

Hal and I walked back through the woods. We went to the Skandian campsite. I saw the other boys I had seen at the stream, along with a man that looked to be a couple of years older than my mother would have been.

"You, girl, what's your name?" the older man asked me harshly.

"Seeing as you're on _my_ home country, and basically kidnapped me," Hal looked at me sheepishly when I said this, "I think that I should be the one asking your name" I retorted, quite angry about this entire situation. I do realize that I was excited to leave, but now I just have this feeling in my stomach that everything is about to go wrong.

"Fine, my name is Thorn. Now tell me your name, before I get angry!" the older man, who I now know is named Thorn, answered. He was clearly angry at my response to his first question.

"My name is Leah. I don't have a surname because my father didn't have the decency to stay with my mother once he found out that she was pregnant," I grudgingly answered his question, because I never like talking about my dad. It always makes me so angry that a man would leave my beautiful, living, amazing mother like she was nothing.

"And before you ask my mother is dead. She was killed by Skandian raiders, the same race as my good, old, loving, daddy dearest, so now you know why I strongly dislike Skandians. So, didn't you guys make a pact or something? No more raids on Araluen?" I asked, actually curios as to why they were here.

"Yes, but we are making an official treaty with Araluen, didn't you learn all of this?" Thorn asked. He clearly knew almost nothing of the Araluen ways.

"I live in a small, farming village. My options of work are to be a servant in the castle, or a farmer's wife. Either way I would spend my days without ever getting to speak my mind. Why would the government ever give the time of day to teach me about history? The only thing I know about Skandians is that your ruler kidnapped our hero, and that my mother loved one. So, why don't I come with you? I know my way around a fight, and as long as we can spare a day to visit my friend, Isaac, I can lead you to castle Araluen in a couple weeks. So, what do you say?" I asked them, hoping that they would accept my offer. Don't get me wrong, I hate Skandians, but I wouldn't survive as a servant or soft-spoken housewife.

"Can we go by sea?" One of the boys asked. He was big and strong, much larger than the boy, Hal.

"We could, but it's treacherous and would take longer. If you boat doesn't fit the exact dimensions needed, we could be smashed to pieces or flipped over onto the rocky shores. So risk being shipwrecked with few materials, or we walk. Your choice" I said the last part cheerfully, although I knew that there really wasn't a choice.

I pulled out a map that I had grabbed last minute from my house. "Isaac's house is by the shore. He has a dock, so I believe that he will let us anchor there for the time we will be walking. What do you want to do?" I asked.

"How far of a sail is it to Isaac's house?" Hal asked.

**-I am a line break!-**

**Isaac's pov**

After fixing the thatch roof of my home, I walked over to my small chicken coop. My four chickens were inside, without a worry. After collecting their eggs, I walked to the small village that was roughly two miles from my home. I sold my eggs to the baker and then walked home. As I was about to go inside, I saw a ship in the water near my dock. The ship had triangular sails and a small build. I stuffed the small leather bag with coins in it into my belt and sprinted around back, where I had a pitchfork and a spear. I picked up the spear and sprinted for the dock.

The ship came up next to my dock, just as I arrived. Someone dressed in a white tunic that almost reached his knees jumped off. He grabbed a rope that another boy had thrown and tied the boat to my dock. When the boy turned around and hugged me, I stood stoically, until he said, "Aww, Isaac, don't you remember me?"

"Leah? But you hate boats; they make you seasick, just like your uncle. Or you just didn't want to be alone with me on a boat…" I asked, starting to go into deep thought about that.

"Isaac, you should probably meet my friends" Leah told me, and I grinned. So my best friend had brought Skandians to my house. No big deal, right?

The other Skandians jumped down from the small, odd boat. One looked faintly like Leah, maybe he was only part Skandian as well? The boy next to him was the one that had thrown Leah the rope. He was built largely and well muscled; I would have to watch him.

The next two to come off the boat were twins. One of them had a piece of cord wrapped around his wrist. It was most likely to tell them apart. After the twins came a slender boy that looked ready to run at an instant notice, while the other was small and scrawny and looked bookish. Last was a boy that was huge, but most likely had bad eyes, because he was constantly tripping over his own feet. After that boy, came a man that looked old enough to be a father. He was missing a hand, and had a metal hook attached to his arm.

Something about him was very familiar. Very, very familiar.

**Thank you so much for all of the support on this story! It really means a lot to me to know that readers take the time to read my stories. **


End file.
